Appliance handle construction



June 21, 1960 A. J. SCHWARTZ E'AL 2,

APPLIANCE HANDLE CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 12, 1956 24 FIG.8.

INVENTORS ANTON J SCHWARTZ LELAND G. HOPKINS BY%KMM ATTO'RNEY Anton J.Schwartz and Leland G.

United States PatentiO 2,941,235 APPLIANCE HANDLE CONSTRUCTION Hopkins,Mansfield, Ohlo, assignors to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, EastPittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Oct. 12, 1956, Ser.No. 615,569

2 Claims. (Cl. 16-116) This invention relates to an improved structurefor attaching a handle to a thin panel, such as a metal panel of a doorfor a domestic appliance.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improvedthermo-insulating spacing means for attaching a metal handle to a metalpanel of an oven door or the like.

It is'another object of this invention to improve the construction forattaching a handle to an outer panel of an oven door or the like wherethe other side of said panel is inaccessible.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improvedstructure for attaching and locking a handle to a metal panel which isaccessible only on one side thereof and in which structure the lockingmeans is concealed when the handle is viewed from the normal viewingposition.

It is another object of this invention to simplify the construction ofan insulating spacer used for attaching a handle to a thin panel.

A still further object of this invention is to reduce the number ofparts required to attach a handle to a metal panel or the like in spacedrelationship with respect thereto. I

In accordance with this invention, a molded plastic thermoinsulatingspacer is disposed between a panel and a handle to be attached thereto,the spacer having a pair of relatively movable portions extendingthrough an" opening in the panel and forced apart by means of a screwthreaded in the spacer, forming a locking means to hold the spacer tothe panel. The screw passes through an opening in the handle at an acuteangle with respect to the panel and serves to hold the handle rigidlywith respect to the spacer and the panel. The spacer handle and screwmay all be assembled together on the panel from one side thereof. Thescrew is inclined with respect to the panel so that it may beconveniently reached by a screw driver from beneath the handle when thepanel is in a normal vertical position, but the screw is concealed whenthe door is viewed in this position from points other than beneath thehandle.

The foregoing and other objects are effected by the invention as will beapparent from the following description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing, forming a part of this application, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the upper lefthand corner of a metalstructure such as an oven door with a handle, shown partially cut away,attached to the structure;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one side of a spacer for attaching thehandle to the door structure from the same viewing point as in Fig. l,but on a larger scale;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the handle supporting spacer from theside which faces the door as in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the spacer of Figs. 2 and 3 positioned inan opening in a panel;

Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken on line V-V of Fig. 4;

Figs. 6 and 7 are vertical sections similar to Fig. 5 showing the spacerin two different positions assumed thereby when being inserted into thepanel end; and

Fig. 8 is a vertical section taken on line VIII-VIII of Fig. 1.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 8, one end of a handle 11 is attached to a thintflat metal panel 13, such as that of a range oven door 14, by means ofa molded plastic insulating spacer 15 and a screw 16. Nylon has beenfound to be a suitable material for the spacer 15. The spacer 15comprises a peripheral wall portion 18 having a fiat surface 20 on oneside thereof for engagement with the panel 13 and a second surface 22which is spaced from the panel and abutted by an end portion of thehandle 11 as seen in Figs. 1 and 8. Projecting from the spacer 0n thepanel engaging side thereof is a relatively rigid anchor or hook portion24 and a defiectible abutment 26. The hook portion 24 and thedefiectible abutment 26 may be squeezed together and passed through arectangular opening 28 in the panel as indicated in the section views ofFigs. 6, 7 and 5, and then forced apart by the screw 16 to anchor thespacer 15 in the panel, as described hereinafter. r

The surface 20 of the spacer which engages the front face of the panelis so constructed that the engagement will take place only at pointsspaced from the edge of the panel opening 28. This helps to reducechipping of any frangible finish on the panel by eliminating some forcesthereon at the edge of the opening 28.

The wall 18 of the spacer forms a generally rectangular loop and theanchor portion 24 is supported by an integrally molded cross-portion orrib 30 extending across the loop. Since the rib 30 is of large crosssection, the anchor portion 24 is relatively rigid with respect to thewall 18. The defiectible abutment 26 is integral with and supported by atorsionally resilient web structure 32 extending across the loopgenerally parallel with the cross-portion 30. The web 32 is of muchsmaller cross section than the crossportion 30 and is easily twisted topermit the abutment to be readily deflected relative to the anchorportion 24, as seen in Figs. 7 and 8. The web 32, forming a pivotalsupport for the deflectable abutment 26, is set back from the plane ofthe flat surface 20, thus enabling the deflectable abutment to havegreater movement at the plane of the flat surface 20 for a given amountof angular movement about its pivotal support.

The cross-portion 30 is provided with a front surface 33 inclinedupwardly and forwardly relative the plane of the front and rear surfaces22 and 20. A square hole or passage 34 is molded in the cross-portion 30and extends normal to the inclined surface 33 thereof. A portion of thedefiectible abutment 26 nearest the anchor or hook portion 24 of thespacer is disposed in alignment with the square opening so that thescrew 16 threaded in the square opening will push the defiectibleabutment 26 in the direction away from the hook portion and lock thespacer in the panel opening. The spacer is formed of nylon or othersuitable thermally insulating material and the screw will deform thewalls of the square hole 34 to form threads therein. The hole 34 is madesufiiciently small relative the screw 16 that the spacer will lock thescrew in place as the latter is tightened to secure the handle 11.

The handle 11 may be formed of sheet metal with a flat rear wall 35abutting the flat front surface 22 of the spacer 15 as shown in Figs. 1and 8. The rear wall 35 is provided with a rearwardly off-set portion36, the front side of which forms a screw head supporting surface 38inclined with respect to the panel and the rear side being disposed inabutment with the inclined front surface 33 of the cross-portion 30.This off-set portion 36 of the handle has an opening through which thescrew 16 extends to clamp the handle to the spacer and wedge the anchorportion 24 and the defiectible abutment 26 apart 3 to engage oppositeedges'of the panel opening 28 to lock the spacer therein.

The handle 11 has a front over-hanging portion 42 attached to the fiatrear wall 35 at the top thereof. This over-hanging portion 42 extendsdownwardly in front of the spacer and screw, making the latterinaccessible with a tool directly from the front on a line normal to thepanel and hiding the screw when the assembly shown in v V The Figs. 1and 8 is viewed from the front or above.

overhanging portion 42 of the handle 11 is sufficiently spaced from thewall 35 to permit a tool to be readily ins'erted from beneath the handleto tighten-the screw 16.

The lower portion of the wall of the spacer may be cut away as seen inFigures I and 2 to make the screw more accessible with a screw driver orthe like.

Thespacer as shown in Figure 1 is attached between the end of the handle11 and the panel 13 to prevent a housewifes apron strings or othergarments from being caught behind the end of the handle as shebrushespast the door. The spacer, being formed of a thermally insulatingmaterial, prevents the metal handle 11 from receiving heat by directconduction from the panel 13 where the latter forms a portion of an ovendoor or the like which may be subject to relatively high heat.

The spacer 15 is self supporting in the panel opening 28 prior to theattachment of the handle 11 and screw 16 thereto. This facilitatesassembly of the complete structure. Another advantage of this spacer isthat the handle 11 and screw 16 engage no part of the door panel 13which is usually finished with a frangible material that is readilychipped. Since the nylon spacer is the only structure to contact thepanel 13 adjacent the opening 28 the chipping problem present with otherhandle mounting striictures is substantially eliminated.

While the invention has been shown in but one form, it will be obviousto those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but issusceptible of various changes and modifications without departing fromthe spirit thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. A spacer member formed of thermally insulating material for securinga handle in spaced relation to a panel at an opening therein, saidmember comprising a peripheral wall forming a loop and having a firstsurface for engagement with a surface of the panel and a second surfacespaced from said first surface for engagement by the handle, a pair ofribs bridging the space defined by the peripheral wall, a pair ofprojections carried one by each rib and extending beyond the firstsurface of the peripheral wall for reception in the panel opening, saidprojections having laterally directed shoulders adapted to engageopposite sides of said panel opening at the rear of said panel, one ofsaid ribs having a passage therethrough for reception of a screw adaptedto secure the handle to the member, the other of said ribs beingtorsionally resilient, whereby the projection carried thereby may bedeflected into locking engagement with the edge of the panel opening,said projection being disposed to be engaged by said screw and deflectedthereby to secure said member to the panel.

2. A spacer member formed of thermally insulating material for securinga hollow handle open at one side in spaced relation to a panel at anopening therein, said member comprising a peripheral wall forming a loopand having a first surface for engagement with a surface of the paneland a second surface spaced from said first surface for engagement bythe handle, a pair of parallel spaced ribs bridging the space defined bythe peripheral wall, a pair of spaced projections carried one by eachrib and extending beyond the first surface of the peripheral wall forreception in the panel opening, one of said ribs having a passagetherethrough substantially inclined with respect to a line normal tosaid first surface of the member for reception of a screw adapted tosecure the handle to the member with the screw accessible through theopen side of the handle, the other rib being torsionally resilient,whereby the projection carried thereby may be deflected into lockingengagement with the edge of the panel opening, said projection beingdisposedto be engaged by said screw and deflected thereby away from theother projection at the side of the panel away from the member to'secure said member to the panel.

References Cited in the file of this patent I UNITED STATES PATENTS1,043,146

